1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever type connector to which a partner connector is fitted by rotating a lever.
2. Related Background Art
The lever type connector pulls in the partner connector from a half-fitted position to a full-fitted position of a connector housing by rotation of a lever, so that the reliability of a fitting operation is secured (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-86301). FIGS. 1 and 2 show a conventional example of such a lever type connector.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a lever type connector 100 includes a connector housing 101 to which a terminal (not shown) having electric wires W is connected, a cover 102 mounted on the connector housing 101, and a lever 103 mounted on the connector housing 101 to be rotatable around rotation pins 101a. The cover 102 accommodates the electric wires W and leads out the electric wires W as a batch of the electric wires so that directions of the electric wires W led out from cavities 101b of the connector housing 101 are converged in a direction of 0 to 90 degrees with respect to a leading out direction.
The connector housing 101 includes the cavities 101b, and terminals having the electric wires W are attached to the cavities 101b. The cover 102 is mounted on the connector housing 101 to cover the outer sides of the cavities 101b. The cover 102 is provided with a snap tab 104. A distal end of the snap tab 104 is formed as a barbed detent and it projects from an outer surface of the cover 102. When this projecting portion is pushed, the snap tab 104 is bent inward of the cover 102. The lever 103 is mounted on the connector housing 101 such that the lever 103 can rotate between an unlocking position (a position shown in FIG. 1) and a locking position (a position shown in FIG. 2). A pair of cam groove 103a is formed in the lever 103.
A fitting operation of a partner connector (not shown) will be explained. First, an operator inserts the partner connector into the connector housing 101 from the direction of the arrow A, engages cam pins (not shown) of the partner connector with the cam grooves 103a of the lever 103, and sets the partner connector in a half-fitted position. If the operator rotates the lever 103 in the unlocking position in the direction of the arrow B, the cam pins receive pressing forces from the cam grooves 103a respectively by the rotation of the lever 103, and the partner connector is gradually displaced toward a full-fitted position of the connector housing 101. If a rotated position of the lever 103 reaches a portion just before the locking position, the lever 103 presses the snap tab 104 of the cover 102, and the snap tab 104 is bent inward of the cover 102 (in the direction F in FIG. 2). With this, the lever 103 can further rotate. If the lever 103 is rotated to the locking position, the partner connector is pulled in to the full-fitted position. If the lever 103 reaches the locking position, the snap tab 104 is returned toward outside of the cover 102 (an opposite direction to the direction F in FIG. 2) to lock the lever 103.
A releasing operation will be explained. If the operator pushes down the snap tab 104 to rotate the lever 103 in the locking position to the unlocking position, the partner connector is separated from the full-fitted position to the half-fitted position. If the operator separates the partner connector in the half-fitted position from the connector housing 101, the releasing operation is completed.